Fire and Ice
by Mlle Bienvenu
Summary: When Scar heads to West Headquarters to cleanse Amestris of State Alchemists, he may have gotten more than he bargained for.
1. Ice

Chapter One: Ice 

Scar squinted over the top of his sunglasses. From his vantage point on a fire escape, he could see the sinner, the abomination to God he was about to wipe off the face of this earth. The Ice-Wire Alchemist.

"God grant me strength." Scar prayed, bowing his head, before leaping noiselessly to the ground and squaring his shoulders.

The target was sitting at the edge of the chimera fountain in the square outside West Headquarters. Her nose was buried in what appeared to be a log book, while on her knee perched an open notebook, a pencil poised inches away. Every so often the pencil would strike down on the paper with lightening precision, leaving neat marks

"Major Stella Konai, The Ice-Wire Alchemist."

"Can I help you?" She answered in a bored monotone, her eyes never leaving her text. Her hand flicked out again and several more words were etched onto the page.

"You can pray for your sins."

She quirked an eyebrow, "Really." Finally, she looked up into the face her addresser and her eyes widened, "Leto preserve me." She said as Scar reached for her head. Her pencil hand struck down to her side, reaching for her firearm, she was fast, but he was expecting it. There was a flash of electric red and the gun shattered into shards of metal.

"Shit!" She cursed under her breath and leapt backwards into the fountain and onto the tail of the chimera. Scar climbed in after her.

"Ha!" She cried and plunged her hand into the stream of water issuing from the chimera's mouth. Scar's legs suddenly seemed frozen to the spot, locked in shooting pain that was searing up his legs and into his spine, and out both his arms and buzzed into his head. He couldn't breathe because his lungs had seized up. It wouldn't have mattered if he could anyway, he had fallen face forward into the fountain with the momentum of his initial movement and would have been inhaling water. He could taste blood and pain as his teeth ground down on his tongue. And his heart squeezed in irregular rhythm in his chest. He could feel his life leaving him.

"That's why the call me Ice-Wire." she spat at the lifeless form of Scar, stopping the transmutation and walking through the fountain to where her papers were strewn about.

The water glowed red momentarily, and suddenly, there was no water at all, only a breeze of hydrogen and oxygen. Suddenly, she was seized by her necklace, and another arm lifted her off her feet.

"You can't transmute without the circle on your necklace." Scar said as the necklace disintegrated in red energy.

"You should be dead. I put enough electricity through you to kill a baby elephant."

"I will be dead when God wills it." Scar put his tatooed arm around her head, palm pressed against her forehead, "I will give you time to pray."

"Leto!" She half sobbed, half growled in frustration. The reports she had read about the Alchemist Killer flashed through her mind. The gruesome pictures with their exploded brains became crystal clear, only now she could almost read the reports and see the pictures associated with her murder. Her brain exploded all over the street. She couldn't breathe, breath came in ragged, desperate gasps, "Lord Leto!" She cried again, and tried to turn her head towards the blood red sun that was sinking in the western sky. Praying seemed to be her only option. Scar allowed her that much movement.

"Go to Hell, filthy Ishbalan"

"I will pray for your soul, Alchemist."


	2. Fire

Chapter Two: Fire 

Scar glanced down at the crumpled and bloodstained notebook with the painfully neat handwriting.

_Occurrence 3 - suicide Mjr. DeSadde, Alchemist Close range bullet Clinical Depression? No. History none. Witnesses: None Deployment - Ninth Battalion_

_Occurrence 4 - suicide Mjr. Russel Schirte, Alchemist Window Laughter?  
Inebriated? No.  
Drugs? No.  
Clinical Depression? No Witnesses: 1 - Mr. Shou Pin-Yu - Flower Shop/neighbor Deployment: None_

_Suspected murder? Yes. Motive? Personal Gain?  
Opportunity? Alchemist Killer… copycat crimes?  
Pattern? Apparent Suicide_

_Alchemist Killer? No - wrong M.O. Who?  
Next in line?  
Suspect: Mjr. John Tucker Ambitious Comments, Open disdain of alchemists, known backbiter Lt. Yves Lilith (uncertified alchemist?) Tattoo. No proof. History?_

Tattoo was circled several times.

He remembered reading in Major Konai's dossier that she was head of West Headquarters Military Investigations Unit. This must have been her latest assignment.

Scars fingers seized momentarily, crumpling up the paper. He'd been twitching involuntarily for the past two hours. That shock that should have killed him had done quite a number on him nonetheless. He really should have been dead. Again he mentally thanked God that he was alive to carry out His will.

He turned to his own list of alchemists. The next in the West was Major Perseus Evans, the Green-Lion Alchemist. He lived in the dormitories at West Headquarters. Scar planned on going there tonight.

"You know, I really wanted to thank you." a voice behind him made him start. Turning around he saw a military officer leaning up against the brick of the alleyway, hands tucked into pockets nonchalantly.

Scar tensed, ready, "Thank me?"

She shrugged, the corners of her mouth quirked up, "Oh sure, Ice-Wire's time was just about up anyway. She was getting to close for comfort. But now… well, I don't have to worry about that, do I? Lieutenant Holmeson will be promoted to Chief of Military Investigations. He's not stupid, but any idiot could see that Ice-Wire's death was the work of the Alchemist Killer, thus taking any further suspicion away from me. Also, I believe that's her notebook you have there?" She chuckled nastily, "She didn't keep multiple copies." He tensed again as she heaved her weight off the wall and walked towards him, hands still in her pockets. He could see now that her tuft of white hair concealed a red tattoo of an eye in the middle of her forehead. It was the only eye visible to him, her real eyes were concealed by mirrored sunglasses.

Scar looked down at the notebook in his hand, at the word tattoo circled several times, "Who are you?"

"Who are you?" She echoed back at him, "I know you are the Alchemist Killer. The one they call Scar. That much is perfectly clear. The way her skull was exploded all over the street like that…." She chuckled again and Scar felt strangely horrified. "We have a lot in common, you and I."

Scar took a step backwards as she continued to advance, "I don't think we do, Major Yves Lilith."

She chuckled again in answer, "I wonder what makes you tick. Why you do what you do. Ahh but since I am grateful for the opportunity you have presented me, I think I will restrain myself."

"Unless you wish for death, come no closer." Scar brandished his tattooed arm in warning,"

"Oh, I have no intentions of dying, nor of killing you, so you can put your toy away now."

"Ice-Wire's notes… are you an alchemist?"

Her eyebrows flew up with an amused expression on her face, "Did she figure that out? Impressive. She was closer than I thought. How lucky you came along when you did. But yes, I fancy myself as the Third-Eye Alchemist … but I'm uncertified, of course. It would make life much more difficult if my alchemical specialty was known."

Her hand left her pocket and wrapped itself tightly around his left arm. How did he let her get so close? His tattooed arm made a swipe for her head, but his hand chose that moment to go into another spasm. His fingers just brushed her sunglasses shattering the lenses in several places. She leapt backwards grinning as pieces of lens fell from their frames and shattered on the ground at her feet.

Scar let out a cry of disgust, "You- you're Ishbalan! An Ishbalan alchemist!"

She grinned broadly. "I told you we have a lot in common."

"We have _nothing_ in common, demoness!" Scar growled and rushed forward.

"Demoness?" Her laughter echoed around the alley as she swung herself onto a nearby fire escape, "People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones, only he who is without sin should cast the first stone. And that person isn't you."

The fire escape's floor shattered from underneath her, and she scrambled like a cat onto the next level up, and then slid down a nearby drain, running a safe distance away from Scar. Suddenly the street buckled underneath her and a large pothole opened up. Her ankle twisted, and she let out a cry as she felt her ankle shatter. Scar couldn't tell whether she was laughing maniacally or crying uncontrollably. She freed both her hands and put them to her temples with a flash of white-blue light. The laughter now was unmistakable, "Oh thank God for alchemy! Oh thank you Almighty Ishbalah! Hahahahaaa!"

She giggled and watched as Scar picked his way through the rubble, "You going to kill me now?" She said between giggles, "I don't care you know, Mr. Big Man, with your scary tattoo. I can't feel it, I can't feel anything now." She giggled some more, there was something wrong with her. Her eyes were strangely shiney, and dilated until they were black disks rimmed with red, like a solar eclipse.

"I will give you a moment to pray. Although I don't think you deserve it."

She laughed at him, "And what has prayer done for our people? Not a damn thing. Where was Ishbalah during the Massacre? Answer me! Since you two seem to be on speaking terms." She chuckled nastily.

Scar said nothing.

"I like you. Hehehe… you're alright. In other circumstances, I think we could have been good friends, lovers even. I like you so much, I have a going away present for you." Her hands darted to his head and pulled it to her. He couldn't imagine where she had gotten the strength or the speed. She should have been in incredible amounts of paralyzing pain.

Before he could react to her sudden movement, she brought her lips up to meet his in a quick kiss before pressing her forehead to his, and her palms to his temples. An alchemical light arced between her palms and her forehead and Scar flew backwards.

He couldn't move, or think, nor did he want to either. From far away he could hear the shifting of rubble and maniacal laughter. It didn't matter to him, nothing mattered at all. The only thing important to him at that moment was the incredible feeling of euphoria that was warmly trickling down from his head down throughout his body. He felt like laughing himself, or taking a nap. But slowly he was moving away from where he was, disconnecting. He was drifting somewhere, some force was pulling him towards something important. But he felt no urgency.


	3. Limbo

Chapter Three: Limbo

Scar rolled over, breathing in deeply. He could smell the warm cinnamon dust of his homeland. Slowly he opened his eyes and squinted. Where were his sunglasses? The room seemed impossibly bright, or maybe he was just used to the dark.

Sitting up, he gazed around the room. It was a typical Ishbalan home, made by honest human hands, with clay of the earth, and white mortar. He was home.

Someone was sitting by his bed.

"_Nii-san_, is that you?" Scar asked the shape at his side.

"Hey, Camelspit, who else would it be?"

Scar smiled in spite of himself "I don't know, puke-for-brains."

"Feeling any better, dorkus?

"Yeah, I think so, retardo. Thanks."

"Let me see if your fever has gone down, Little Brother." Scar's older brother felt his forehead, "Yeah seems like you're going to live... what a shame." He mock-grimaced at Scar.

"Looks like you're stuck with me." He smirked back. It was so good to see his brother again.

"So can I ask you what in the Living God you were doing wandering the desert all alone like that?"

"I... um..." Scar wracked his brain, trying to remember what exactly he'd been doing...the truth was, he couldn't remember anything leading up to his awakening in this bed. He ran his hand through his hair, but stopped on his forehead, as he felt the familiar smoothness of the old scar, sending a vague uneasiness through him, something was wrong, although he couldn't pinpoint what it was. He had been at West Headquarters, that was the last he remembered. And now he was all the way in Ishbal. How had he gotten here?

"So where have you been all this time?" Scar's nii-san broke through his tangled thoughts.

"I . .. Uh. .. " This wasn't right. . . his mind told him this was a memory from before the massacre. . . and yet, he knew the Massacre had occurred. This was clearly when they were both young. . .before the rift had grown between them. Before lust had twisted his brother's soul into an unrecognizable shape. Before _she_ had driven a wedge between them, before _she_ had tempted his brother away from Isbalah's teachings into the heresy of alchemy.

An image appeared in his mind, and he was at once revolted and fascinated by it. All at once it was his brother's lost love, the woman he had coveted, and also the hideous product of the alchemy his brother had performed. On that day his brother had lost more than he thought in that so-called equivalent exchange. In Scar's mind, that was the day he lost his brother, and the day his brother lost him along with his mind and his future.

The image shifted again, and it was someone he didn't recognize right away. She had the same complexion as the woman he had coveted for all these years, but this face was angular, her hair was bleached and in a severe cut. and a red eye was emblazoned on her forehead.

Then he remembered what had happened immediately before arriving. . . wherever he was. . . was he dead? Did that heretic kill him?

"Has she?" A voice said behind him. He was no longer in his old house, but somewhere unrecognizable as any place on Earth. It seemed to be fluctuating between several places he had been, and some seemed like places he'd only been to in dreams.

For all this, the voice, although he had never actually heard it before, was immediately recognizable.

Scar fell on his face, cowering at the simple two-word question like it had issued from the mouth of Ishbalah himself, and maybe it had been. Scar certainly thought so. "You chose laws of alchemy over My Laws, and so you bound yourself by the rules of the alchemist. If you wish to return to life, you must give up something of equal value in return. That is Equivalent Exchange."

"But I. . . This arm. . . my brother. . . " he knew arguing would only make things worse. . . What could he say that Ishbalah didn't already know? If Ishbalah chose to turn his wrath towards him, then it wasn't within Scar's right to argue, but still his mouth wouldn't obey Scar's sense of divine authority. What did he have to lose now, a part of him insisted, he might as well burn as a man-eating lion as much as a spitting camel, "I didn't want this!" He shouted, brandishing his tattooed arm, "_If_ I turned away from You it's _your_ fault! Where were You when Your people were slaughtered? When we were crying out for Your help! Where were you when _she_ lay dying? Or when my idiot of a brother decided to try to bring her back? Or when he marred his body with these hateful signs? Where were You? Where were-"

But he couldn't continue. A shooting pain like a firebrand tore through his mind in the shape of an 'X' and molten blood oozed in his temples and down the veins in his neck , and into his right arm, coalescing in hot clots of pain, which burned his skin in patterns matching his tattoo, and matching his hate.


End file.
